Luke The Orderly Account of Truth - Does God Know Who You Are - Luke 13:22-30

Grab your Bibles because you're gonna need them today. We

love the Bible. We're going through the Bible, and we're

going to be in Luke chapter thirteen today. If you

don't have a Bible, we want you to have one,

and we have a bunch of them at the resource

desk out in the lobby, so please take one there.

It's our gift for you. But we've been in a

series called Luke the Orderly Account of Truth. Luke the

Orderly Account of Truth. We've been going verse by verse

through the whole book of Luke. It has been awesome,

and we're learning all about the life and ministry of

Jesus from a man who investigated it all. He investigated

and asked all the eyewitnesses what really happened, and he

gave us that full investigated report. And throughout Jesus ministry

he did some things that really just rocked the Jews

of the day, anyone who he came in contact with.

The things he was doing and the things he was teaching,

and the things that they just saw him, I don't know,

just the things that they saw him do. All of

them just rocked their perception or understand ending of how

things would work or should work. So they had an

idea of how it's supposed to go, and Jesus would

come and correct that. He would change what they thought

was the truth. He would often say, and you guys

have read it, and because we've gone through so much

of Luke so far that he would say, you've heard

it said, or maybe you've heard it been this way,

but he would say, but this is the truth, and

he would correct that. And Jesus continued to do this

even in what Pastor Jordan was talking about last week.

If you guys were here, he told the people that

the Kingdom of God and what it was really like.

He said, it was like a mustard seed, right, this

tiny little seed that grows into something huge. If you

actually thought to think about it, any seed's kind of small,

and the fact that it grows into something big enough

for birds to land in, it's kind of mind blowing

if you think about it. So he's saying, a Kingdom

of God is like a mustard seed, or like yeast

or leaven, which a little bit just massaged into dough.

The entire dough is now the whole lump of dough

is now leavened, or has yeast in it and it

spreads to the whole thing. So the Kingdom of God

would start small and would grow to something massive. So

Jesus was telling the people, that's how the Messiah is

going to show up, not as this military or political

leader that's going to overtake and overthrow the government. It's

not how the Messiah is going to show up. Now,

the Messiah Jesus, it's going to show up as a

baby in pure humility, someone who came from the highest

high to what we would see is the lowest low,

who's the most dependent person you can think of, type

of human that you can think of, a newborn baby.

So he came from the highest high to the lowest low.

That's pure and true humility. And that this Kingdom of

God would spread, the message of the Gospel, would spread

throughout all peoples on earth. It would start in Bethlehem

and it would make it all the way to Lacey, Washington.

Think about that for a second. That's crazy that this

one message from this one man, which we know as

the God Man Jesus, spread all the way from there

and made it all the way to hear today. The

Kingdom of God is life like that it starts out small,

but it spreads everywhere. But I don't know if you're

anything like me. But if Jesus came to me and

said this is what the Kingdom of God is like,

and it didn't match what I was taught, didn't match

what my own thoughts were, I'd have some questions. And

the chief question among them is is anyone getting into

the Kingdom? Then I would be questioning if I had

a misunderstanding about what the Kingdom of God was, or

I was even being taught misunderstandings about the Kingdom of God,

that maybe I'm misunderstanding how to even be a part

of the Kingdom of God. Could I be missing that?

Couldn't the people who are teaching me be missing that?

And you got to remember that Jesus is talking to

the Jews, the ones who were called the people of God.

They had the prophets, they had the Law of Moses,

they had the teachings of God, and there was a

lot about it that they misunderstood. That's why Jesus was

correcting it. So I think what we're gonna see today

are two very very big points, and both of these

points would have cut the people to the core they

would have felt maybe like they were getting a big

old smack in the face, but in reality, what they

were being given was the truth that would save them.

Jesus was correcting their misunderstanding of what they thought to

be true and giving the truth of what it really was,

and this truth would save them. Many of the people

back in the day would say, I was born in

the line of Abraham. I'm good, I'm good with God.

I mean the Kingdom, Abraham's my father. Or to bring

it to today's time, I was born in Texas. Of course,

I'm a Christian. Doesn't matter where you're born, doesn't matter

who you were born under. That doesn't make you a believer.

That doesn't make you give you a free ticket into

the Kingdom of Heaven. So Jesus has something different to

say about that. So we're gonna read our text for today,

and then we're gonna pray. So we're in Luke, chapter thirteen,

verses twenty two through thirty, Verses twenty two through thirty.

Then Jesus went through through the towns and villages teaching.

As he made his way to Jerusalem, someone asked him, Lord,

are only a few people going to be saved? He

said to them, make every effort to enter through the

narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to

enter and will not be able to. Once the owner

of the house gets up and closes the door, you

will stand outside, knocking and pleading, Sir open the door

for us. But he will answer, I don't know you

or where you come from. And then you will say,

we ate and drank with you, and you taught in

our streets. But he will reply, I don't know you

or where you come from. Away from me, all you

evil doers. There will be weeping there and gnashing of

teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all

the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves

thrown out. People will come from east and west, and

north and south, and will take their places at the

feast in the Kingdom of God. Indeed, there are those

who are last who will be first, and first who

will be last. Let's pray God, we take a moment

right now just to acquiet ourselves, to open up our

ears and open up our hearts to what you have

to say today. And as we've just read your word, God,

I pray that the message that you have from it

for us that that's what that we catch in here today. God,

that what you're trying to teach us through your word

today is the only thing we learned today. So God,

let this word come alive in us. Let it challenge

us where we need to be challenged. Let it encourage

us where we need to be encouraged. God, we think

you that you've given us your word to know as truth,

to trust, to love, to lead, to guide us. And

we think you that the Holy Spirit is doing his

work in us to help us understand it. And we

thank you for all this in Jesus name. Everybody said, Amen,

have you guys seen the movie Avengers Endgame? I'm about

to spoil the whole movie for you guys, Just kidding, no,

but there is a particular scene in the movie that

I wanted to talk about. It's huge, giant battle. Almost

every single superhero you can think of and super villain

in the whole Marvel universe is all on this battlefield

and everyone's fighting over the Infinity Gauntlin, right, They're trying

to get a hold of this thing. But there's a

very key moment, and you gotta remember that Thanos snapped

his fingers and wiped out half of humanity in the

movie before, right, so half of humanity's gone. Well, this moment,

the scarlet Witch comes down, lands right in front. She's

face to face with Thanos, the one who in a

snap made her the love of her life just disappear, vanish.

He took away the love of her life. But she

comes down, her eyes are glowing red. And you guys,

remember what she said, you took everything from me. That's

what she said to him. And you know what Thanos

said back to her, I don't even know who you are.

That's the coldest thing anybody could ever say back someone

who everything was taken from. This person stands in front

of them and says, you took everything from me. And

Thanos's response, I don't even know who you are. That

had to have felt like the biggest slap in the face,

the most disrespectful thing, and the imaginable. Now, I do

want to say, in no way am I comparing Thanos

to God. I want to make that very clear. I'm

not equating the two. But in our text, you're going

to see the owner of the house responding to those

who are trying to get into the house. He says

that he doesn't even know who they are, that he

doesn't know who they are. I don't know where you

come from. That's what the owner of the house is

telling him. You're trying to get into my house, and

I don't know who you are. But Jesus, what he's

actually trying to explain in this whole parablen story is

that the owner of the house is God, and the

house is the kingdom of God. And it's only those

that God knows can enter his kingdom. Only those that

God knows can enter his kingdom. So I called today's

message this, Does God know who you are? Does God

know who you are? If God only allows those who

he knows into his kingdom, then it should be great

the people's greatest concern to be known by him. Let

me say that again, it should be our greatest concern

to be known by him. But God is omniscient, right,

He knows everybody, and he knows everything. He's all knowing.

That's what omniscient means. Yes, that is absolutely true. So

then Jesus has to be talking about something a little different, then,

doesn't he. It's got to be something different that Jesus

has in mind and that's what we're going to be

talking about today. You guys ready to dive into this, Okay,

if you're taking notes, which I highly recommend taking notes

because my brain does not remember things very well, so

notes help us remember stuff. The first big point I

want us to get is this, there is a time

when it's too late to enter the Kingdom of God.

There is a time when it's too late to enter

the Kingdom of God. This is what we're gonna be

talking about in the first chunk of this text. There

will come a time when the door will be shut.

The door is shut because the owner got up and

he's the one who shut it, and at that point

it's too late to enter. So let's look at these

first few verses, Verses twenty two through twenty five. Then

Jesus went through the towns and villages teaching. As he

made his way to Jerusalem, someone asked him, Lord, are

only a few people going to be saved? He said,

to them, make every effort to enter through the narrow door,

because many, I tell you, will try to enter and

will not be able to. Once the owner of the

house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside,

knocking and pleading sir open the door for us, but

he will answer, I don't know you or where you

come from. So the can you go back to the

first verse on this So it starts with Jesus went

through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his

way to Jerusalem. Sous. Ever since Luke chapter nine, he's

been resolutely heading towards Jerusalem. It's in verse fifty one.

It says at the time or as the time approached

for him to be taken up into heaven, Jesus resolutely

set out for Jerusalem. Okay, so he's on his way.

This is what this trip is about. And everywhere he

stops along the ways teaching. That's just what Jesus does.

He goes along the way, stops and teaches people. But

this trip to Jerusalem that Jesus is on, it ends

with his crucifixion. So you could think about this trip

that he is on the road to his own death.

That's where Jesus is headed. He's on a mission. His

eyes are set on that mission. He's going to accomplish

this mission. But on the way, someone asks him, are

only a few going to be saved? Interesting question? So

there was something that Jesus was saying or teaching, or

that he did that caused this person to say to

want to ask this question. But instead of Jesus answering

the question related to the number of people who would

be saved, Jesus tells the person something a little different.

He answers it and says, make sure you are one

of the people who are going to be saved. Be

less concerned about the number and more concerned about that

you are one of the number. And what's interesting is

because they are he speaking to a primarily Jewish crowd.

A lot of them thought we are the number, like,

we're all good now, Jesus saying, no, you're not. And

he's like, well, then how will only a few be saved?

So that's that's why he's asking this question. But Jesus

is telling this person, he's answering the question how to

be one of the people who are saved, and he's

not as concerned about the number. But he tells this

person something very specific. He says, make every effort to

enter through the narrow door. So that's in verse twenty four.

Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, and

make every effort means to strive, like to fight for it.

The word actually means to endeavor with strenuous zeal, strike

for the purpose of attaining something, obtaining something. So and

the root word here that's actually used for it is

where we get the word agonized from. So we need

to agonize our way through this narrow door. Is what

Jesus is saying. It's a fight, compete for it, get

through this narrow door. He's telling this person as they

ask a question about the number, This is what you

must do. Fight, strive, strenuous zeal like you're trying to

obtain something to get through this narrow door. Those are

some pretty strong words about just going through a door.

But it's not just a normal door, is it. Jesus

said it's a narrow door, so that's a little bit different.

What's the implication. Well, the implication is a wide door

is easy to go through. A lot of people can

go through all at once, it's not difficult. But a

narrow door is hard to get through. If you don't

believe me, try to go to the bathroom on an airplane.

Who's been on an airplane before? Yes, everything about a

plane is narrow and obnoxious. I mean, I don't like traveling.

Everybody knows this, and planes are one thing that's terrible.

I'll put up with a plane just to get to

the destination. Okay, but everything about planes are narrow. I mean,

if you really want to talk about striving, try walking

down the aisle when someone else is going the other way.

You will never have a more awkward exchange, right, a

complete stranger. You're rubbing your entire body against their entire

body while trying not to rub on the person in

the seats next to you. Everything about it is just terrible.

I hate it. Right, it's this narrow striving and once

you finally get by that person, this terrible exchange you

just have with that person. Your next fight, your next drive,

is to get through those weird accordion doors on the airplane.

They're tiny. It's just all small and narrow. You have

to strive, right, So Jesus is telling this person to

fight and strive like you're trying to get on the

airplane bathroom. Okay, he's not really saying that, but you, guys,

get to the point, right, to fight and to strive

for something it's not easy, something that's difficult. You need

to fight and strive to make every effort to enter

through that narrow door when it comes to being saved,

when it comes to our salvation, we must make every effort,

make every effort. Why are we striving so much? Because

there's only one way in? There is one way in,

and it's narrow. It's not an easy door to walk through.

Remember what Matthew sevens where Jesus said, enter through the

narrow gate or door. For why does the gate and

broad is the road that leads to destruction and many

enter through it. But small is the gate, and narrow

the road that leads to life, and only a few

find it. So when you find that gate, when you

find that door, or I like to say it, when

God shows you where that door and where that gate is,

you fight and you strive to go through it with

everything you have. And we have the benefit I say

of living on this side of the cross. What I

mean is we're not living in the time of history

or we're looking forward to Christ's coming and his death

and his crucifixion, right, we're looking back at it and

we're living in light of it, which is amazing. Right,

So we have the benefit of living on this side

of the cross, So we know that Jesus is the

narrow door. Jesus is the narrow door. He is the gate,

and faith in him is the only way into the

Kingdom of God. It's the only way. It's the only

way to receive salvation. So our task is now that

we're looking in light of the cross we found the door,

is that we need to or that the door has

been revealed to us, we need to fight to enter

through it. We need to fight to keep and grow

our faith. We need to fight to keep it and

grow it our faith. And we're going to talk more

about that in a little bit. But why is Jesus

telling him to strive? Why is he telling him to

make every effort? Goes back to the big point we're

kind of talking about it, because the door won't be

opened forever. The door will be shut at some point,

and when that door closes, it's too late to enter.

Look back at verses twenty four and twenty five. I

think that's on the next line. Yeah, make every effort

to enter through the narrow door, because many I tell

you will try to enter and will not be able

to Once the owner of the house gets up and

closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading

Sir open the door for us, but he will answer,

I don't know you or where you come from. Many

will try to enter after the door has been closed,

but it will be too late. It's the gent that's

the very general understanding. What's being said that once that

door closes, it's not going to be opened again, which

means there will come a time when it's too late.

It's just too late to enter the Kingdom of God.

But everybody wants to know when is that? When is

that time that is too late? And it will be

when Jesus returns to bring the final judgment. When Jesus

returns again and brings his final judgment, that's when it's

going to be too late. That's when God will shut

the door for good. And scripture tells us it comes

like a thief in the night. You don't know when,

nobody knows when, not even the son, only the father.

The son is waiting for the father's eight now, but

it's going to come into time and we don't expect

at all. So we basically just need to be ready

at all times. And for some encouragement or a specific

story about that, I would highly recommend reading Matthew twenty five.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins emphasize this point beautifully,

like we have to be ready at all times. But

there's also another natural time that the door is shut

for us, isn't there there's a time before Jesus comes

back where the door is shut. You guys know what

when that time is. None of us has promised tomorrow.

Not a single one of us can guarantee that we'll

take one more breath. I could leave here and get

hit by a bus on the way home. None of

us has promised tomorrow. It's the same thing that Jesus

was talking about when he talked about the rich fool

in Luke chapter twelve. We just talked about it. He

was storing up wealth for himself, and God said, you fool,

this very night, your life will be demanded from you.

Then what happens to his wealth? But we understand the

timing of this. We are not promised tomorrow. We must

make this decision today, or think about what the wise

teacher said in the Book of Ecclesiastes. If you want

to be super encourage me the Book of Ecclesiastes with

your eyes super wide open. Because in your first glance

it'll feel really depressing. But it's not. It's actually a

book full of hope and wisdom. But the wise teacher

in the Book of Eclesiastes, I want to read chapter nine,

verses eleven and twelve together somewhere in here you okay, this,

did I have seen something else under the sun. The

race is not to the swift, or the battle to

the strong. Nor does food come to the wise, or

well to the brilliant, or favor to the learned. But

time and chance happen to them all. Moreover, no one

knows when their hour will come. As fish are caught

in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare.

So people are trapped by evil times that fall what

unexpectedly upon them. It's a wise teacher. You don't know

when you're gonna bite the dust, None of us do.

You don't know when the day of evil or calamity

will strike at you. That's why we should never wait.

Don't wait, But we should make every effort right now,

make every effort right now to enter through the narrow door,

because there is going to be a time. And I'm

saying saying the same thing over and over and over again.

There is going to be a time when the door

is shut and it is too late, either by Jesus

returning to Judge living in the dead, or when we

take our last breath on this on this earth. There

will be a time. So let's put our big point

right on the screen again. There is a time when

it's too late to enter the Kingdom of God. I

don't know, I'm speaking to a lot of believers here.

We're gonna get to you guys, right, but this is

a good reminder for us. We need to make every

effort right now to enter through the narrow door. It's interesting,

this isn't really in my notes, but Jesus speaking to

the Jews, who would be considered as the believers then, right,

So if we put ourselves in the same kind of

shoes as being spoken to his believers, if it was

a good message for them, it's probably a good message

for us. Right. So remember that that even as Jesus

his primary audience was the Jews of the time. When

you say, okay, let's understand the point he's making to

that audience and then say, well, how does that same

argument apply to our audience or our contact today, right,

And I think this is a good thing for us

to be reminded of even today. So as we move

to our next big point, I want you to note

how the owner of the house responds in the end

of verse twenty five, because he repeats himself, and anytime

the Bible repeats itself, or God repeats himself in the Bible,

I should say it that way. Take note he's trying

to emphasize something. It's very important if he repeats himself,

says Look at verse twenty five. This says twenty five

for thirty. We're just gonna read twenty five. Once the

owner of the house gets up and closes the door,

you will stand outside knocking and pleading, sir open the

door for us, but he will answer this, I don't

know you or where you come from. So once you

keep this in mind, he stands up close the door

and he won't open it, and his response to there, please,

I don't know you. He won't let them in because

he doesn't who they know, who they are, doesn't know

where they come from. So our second big point for

today is this, Only those that God knows can enter

his kingdom. Only those that God knows can enter His kingdom.

That's why call today's message. Does God know who you are?

Does He know who you are? Because that is the

prerequisite or condition that must be met to enter his kingdom.

He must know who you are. So keep this in mind,

and we're gonna read the rest of the text, so

verses twenty five through thirty. You're gonna have verse twenty

five memorized by the end of this. Does this go

through all of them? Patricia? Okay, cool. Once the owner

of the house gets up and closes the door, you

will stand outside, knocking and pleading, Sir open the door

for us. But he will answer, I don't know you

or where you come from. Then you will say, we

ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.

It's talking about like this intimate relationship that they could

have had. But he will reply, I don't know you

or where you come from. Away from me, all you

evil doers. There will be weeping there and now brushing

of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and

all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you

yourself thrown out. People will come from east and west,

north and south, and will take their places at the

feast in the Kingdom of God. Indeed, there are those

who are last who will be first, and first who

will be last. I don't even know who you are,

but we ate and drink with you. You taught in our streets.

I don't know who you are or where you come from.

And then it's like salt and the wound. He's like,

you will see your forefathers and all the people that

you look up to and you've learned from, probably your

whole life and studied. They will all be in the

Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. And

this will cause them to weep and gnash their teeth.

That means they're gonna be full of sorrow and they're

gonna be full of rage. And this is a very

common expression that Jesus would use for final judgment in hell,

weeping and gnashing of teeth if you read through the Gospels,

it's something he would regularly say, because those who are

not in the Kingdom of God are going to feel

one of two things, either extreme sorrow and sadness in

their suffering, or continued rebellious and hateful rage. How could

you send me to hell? Who do you think you are.

This gnashing of teeth and this rage, and I've always

thought that that's phrase, or that saying the gnashing of

teeth thought was a weird one. It didn't quite make

sense to me. But as I was thinking about it

this week, I want you guys to do me a favor,

and everyone make an angry face at me right now.

The angriest card's like, no, it's so sweet, your sweetheart,

and angry Jerry's got a solid angry face. That's good, right,

what's our first instinct? It's a great our teeth. This

is literally gnashing your teeth. Ah, this is anger, right,

gnashing my teeth. And for those who purse their lips,

what are your teeth doing your lips? You're still gnashing

your teeth. It's this anger, this like hatred, this vitriol. Right,

that's what this gnashing of teeth means. Does that make sense?

So weeping is this sorrow and gnashing of teeth is

continued hatred of God? Because what is the state of

mankind before God opens his eyes? We hate God, we're

rebellious against him, and anyone who loves him right now

is because he opened your eyes to see him as lovely,

which is fantastic mark and a just amazing piece of

grace to continually thank him for. So Jesus doesn't just

stop there, though, he says not will fathers of the

faith be there in the Kingdom of God. But also

you will see people from all over the world feasting

in the presence of God and his kingdom. And that's

great news for anyone who's not a Jew by blood.

That's fantastic news. Amen. And that's actually not what most

of the Jews would have thought of the day, right,

They're like, oh, surely it's not for anyone else, again,

a misunderstanding of even what the prophets were saying in

the Old Testament. But salvation may have come to the

Jews first, but it also came to the Gentiles, which

is amazing that this feast in the Kingdom of God

includes people from the east, west, north, and south, and

where the Jews might have looked upon the rest of

the world and seen them as lesser, less than or

should be the last. Right in the Kingdom of God,

there are some of them who in the rest of

the world, some of them from the rest of the world,

who would now be the first. So we're seeing this

last first. Indeed, there are those who are last who

will be first, and first who will be last. We

should humble ourselves before God, and in due time he

will lift you up. He will lift you up. It's

not our job to lift ourselves up. Don't think of

yourself more highly than you ought right. Don't do what

the Pharisees do. Don't do what they teach even I

mean he said what they teach us. Don't do what

they do because they didn't model it at all, did they. No,

they were the people who would elevate themselves above others.

To watch out, because the first shall be last and

the last shall be first. And you gotta remember again,

Jesus is giving this parable to the Jews, the people

of God, who thought, surely God knows me. I do

all the right things. Same people have thought. I was

born in the family of Abraham, so I am definitely

in his father. Abraham had many sons. But remember what

Jesus said in Matthew seven. Let's read verses twenty one

through twenty three. Not everyone who says to me, Lord

Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only the

one who does the will of my Father who is

in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,

Lord Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and

in your name drive out demons, and in your name

perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, this

is like I'm gonna say it straight. I never knew

you away from me, you evildoers. Sounds familiar, doesn't It

sounds kind of like what the owner of the house

is saying. Jesus says, it's those who do the will

of the Father who enter the kingdom. And the people said,

I did all these things in your name, right, So

that's what you wanted, right. Jesus still says, I never

knew you. But if those things aren't the will of God,

then what is? And that made me think. Well. In

John's Gospel, Jesus tells us that's the will of the Father,

that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in

him shall have eternal life, and I, Jesus will raise

them up in the last day. Getting into the Kingdom

of God is not about the things you do. It's

about belief. It's about who you know. It's about who

knows you. It never was about the things you do.

It's not by works, it's by faith. So no one

can boast. There's no way he can do enough good

things that God's like nailed it, finally filled up. The

cup of good things come on in. It's impossible to

do enough good things to outweigh the bad. We still

owe the debt of sin. It's never about the things

you do. The works you do are all the things

that these guys were doing good things. The prophecies, the

casting out demons, performing miracles, were those good things? Absolutely?

Those are great things, yes, But apart from faith in Jesus,

apart from entering through the narrow door, these things cannot

and could not ever save you. Only looking to the

sun and believing in Him will save you. So how

are you known by God? Do his will what's his will?

Believe in the one he is sent, Believe in Jesus.

So I want to put all of this together because

I've kind of gone all over the place and talked

about a lot of things. So I want to put

it all together. But I want to make sure that

we see this very clear thread through the whole text.

And if I can have the band come up, that'd

be great. Please. So let's summarize what we've been talking about.

There is a time when it's too late to enter

the Kingdom of God. So Jesus said, make every effort

or strive to enter through the narrow door. There's one

way to salvation, and we should fight to get there.

But the underlying truth under all of that, it's only

those who God knows that enter his kingdom. And we

know that no one can come to Jesus unless the

Father who sent him draws them. That's from John six

point forty four. We know that to be true. Why

do we know it to be true because the Bible

says it, because God said it. But what Jesus is

saying in our text today, the point that it seems

like he's drying having home, You should act like it

all depends on you. Act like it actually depends on you.

Act like attaining your salvation is in your hands and

the effort you're putting in. Even though we know that

it's only through the grace of God that God the

Father draws you to Jesus and reveals who he is.

We know that's what God does. It's only possible because

God knows who you are, and he knows you in

the salviafic sense. Not just knows of your existence, but

he knows you in the salviafic sense. He knows you

as his child, as one of his sheep. And there

is a beautiful passage in John ten that I think

is the perfect summary of today's text. So I want

us to turn to John ten if you got your bibles,

because I don't think I'm gonna go back and read

anymore from our text today. So you can actually turn

in your Bible to John ten. We're gonna read verses

seven through sixteen. Once you turn there, and just give

me your eyeballs, and I'll know we got bibles. Let's

use them. Got some eyeballs, got a Bible raised on

that one? I was good, all right, Let's read John

ten seven through sixteen. Therefore, Jesus said again, very truly,

I tell you believe this. I'm telling you something important.

I am the gate for the sheep. All who have

come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep

have not listened to them. I am the gate. Whoever

enters through me will be saved. They will come in

and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only

to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have

come that they might have life and have it to

the full. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd

lays down his life for the sheep. Thank you Jesus.

The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not

own the sheep, so when he sees the wolf coming,

he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf

attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away

because he's not He is a hired hand and cares

nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I

know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just as

the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and

I lay my life down for the sheep. I have

other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I

must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice,

and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. This

all sound familiar. You see some parallels between our texts

and this text. Such a beautiful summary of everything we

talked about. But I think what's more beautiful than it

just being a cool summary and very convenient summary for

someone preaching through the text. What's more beautiful is what

it says. What it says this is what's the most

beautiful part about it. Jesus is the gate or the door.

All who enter through him will be saved. He is

the narrow door by which we get salvation. Jesus knows

which sheep are his, and his sheep know who he is.

They know each other, they know who he is, and

they listen to his voice. U Pastor Duncan and I

were talking this week. There's actual shepherds out there who

can walk up to a flock of sheep, of mixed

different flocks, and that shepherd says, whatever he starts talking,

my sheep should follow me, and starts walking away, and

only his sheep start following him. It's the exact same

things that we know our father's voice, We know our

shepherd's voice, and we as his sheep, will follow him.

These sheep do the shepherd's will. They listen and obey

his leading. And it all ends with Jesus saying that

there are sheep not of this pen who he needs

to go and get, like from the east, the west,

the north, and the south. Right there are other sheep

to be brought in. He is the good shepherd. So

what do we do with this information? We've learned a

lot of information today. So what are we supposed to

do with this? How should we be applying what we've

learned to our lives today this week as we go

through the month. We need to strive and fight to

enter through the narrow door. That's the first thing we

need to do. Strive and fight to enter through the

narrow door. And here's another way I kind of put

it on the next slide. Fight for and grow your

faith and Jesus. Yeah, I told you, we're going to

talk about it later. To fight for and grow your

faith in Jesus. And in one Peter one, if you've

missed out on the guy's ministry nights, the men's ministry nights,

we're going through first Peter. It's awesome. You should totally

be there six point thirty second, second Tuesday of the month.

But we're going through First Peter. And in chapter one,

Peter tells us that our faith is of greater worth

than gold. Why do you choose gold, because that's the

most valuable thing around, especially back then, and that the

end result of our faith is the salvation of our souls.

Our faith is valuable. Then you think about the illustrations

of when you find this salvation, this faith in Christ.

It's like finding a treasure in a field. You leave

the treasure there, You sell everything you have, and you

find out whoever owns that field, and you buy that field.

It is worth selling everything else you have for that

one treasure. Do we treasure our faith like that? Our

belief in Christ? Do we treat it with that much

value as that valuable? Do we recognize just how valuable

our faith is? The aim, the purpose, the goal of

our faith is our salvation. That's huge. That is the

most valuable thing we have. It should be the most

treasured thing that we have. To be freed from our

sin now and to be saved from the wrath of

God on our sin for eternity, that's incredible. That is

the most treasured thing. We have. Something to be protected.

How do we protect it? Well, first, do we even

think it needs to be protected? No, it is something

to be protected. We should take care of our faith

because it is more valuable than gold. We need to

feed it to nourish. We need to grow it may

start small, but don't leave it that size. Kingdom of

God is like a mustard seed, right, small grows something big.

Your faith might even start that small, right, there's other

stories in the Bible about that. Don't leave it that size.

Jesus called out the disciples all the time, you have

little faith, why don't you believe? Or when you find

places in scripture where it says he was unable to

do miracles there because of their lack of faith or belief,

doesn't mean he couldn't because it all depended on their faith.

Means in that moment he chose not to show his

power due to their lack of faith. Grow your faith,

grow it. Do you believe he can do the impossible.

It may start small, don't leave it that size. Fight

to keep your faith in Jesus all the way to

the end. Persevere to the end. Blessed is the one

who perseveres under trial, because having stood the test, that

person will receive the crown of life that the Lord

has promised to those who love him. It's James one twelve.

Don't stop believe in not a Christian song, kind of

a Christian message A little bit. Jesus says in Matthew

twenty four. I think this is pretty pointed. But the

one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Straight up. He just says it. The one who stands

firm to the end will be saved. So fight for

your faith. Be stubborn. Has anyone told you to be

stubborn before? Usually we're told stopping, So stubborn right? Has

anyone told you not to be movable, to be immovable

as regards your faith, be stubborn, be immovable. Don't let

anything push you off of that. Believe in Christ to

the end. You fight for your faith. You grow your

faith in Jesus, and the way you grow it is

by feeding it. Feed it, feed your faith. We are

transformed more into the image of our creator through knowledge

of him. So the Bible says, So what should you do?

Learn more about who Jesus is? Who is Jesus? Read

your Bible. Everything you need to know is in there,

and it will feed your faith. It will grow your faith.

Know the promises of God that are in scripture. Know them.

There's lots of them in there. I forget them all

the time. Know the promises of God that are in scripture.

Eat your spiritual food, which is God's word. Here's a test,

here's something to try out. You ate food today, right

at some point, don't eat until next Sunday. See how

you feel. How does your spirit feel when you eat

on Sunday and wait until Sunday to eat again. It's

our spiritual food. Man will not live on bread alone,

but on the very words of God. Our spirits are

dying of starvation. If we're literally waiting for one of

your pastors to stand up here and tell you what

the Bible says. Also, have you guys played the telephone

game before? Such a great example. You start with one

little saying and you have everyone just tell to the

next person. By the end it is something completely different.

Don't play telephone with the Bible. I'm telling you all

kinds of stuff the Bible says. Don't believe me. Go

read it and figure it out. Go read it and say, oh, okay,

be a Borean. That's what they did. Paul comes, He's like,

this is what the Bible says, and they're like mmm.

They go, they read the scriptures, can consult the scriptures,

come back and say, okay, you were telling the truth. Continue,

don't believe me. Read the Bible because the same Holy

Spirit that's in me is in you. If you put

faith in Jesus, you are full of the Holy Spirit.

And guess who explains what scripture means? The one who

wrote it all scriptures. God breathe inspired, breathe out by

God into men who penned it, who wrote it down?

It's the Holy Spirit, quote the whole book. And He's

in you. So don't believe me. Read your Bible, grow

your faith, eat your spiritual food. And this one God

hit me after I finished my notes, I already sent

it to the guys. I was like, I need to

open my notes again and put this in here. But

grow your faith by remembering God faithfulness, faithfulness in your life.

And the song I don't remember the lyrics, but have

the word faithfulness, and they're great. Great is your faithfulness? Yeah,

your faithfulness that song? And I was like, oh, how

perfect to be reminded like God is faithful, his track

record perfect, best song. You've never failed me yet. I'm

I don't even like the word yet on the end

of that. But you've never failed period period, Like God's

never failed ever, his track record's perfect. Remember his faithfulness.

And if you're like I got nothing to remember. If

God's faith faithfulness in my life, if you've put faith

in him, you were spiritually dead you are now spiritually

alive in Christ, and he will carry you through to

the end because he's faithful. Remember his faithfulness. That's how

we grow our faith in Jesus. To meditate and ponder

on those things, not meditat in the weird way, like

sit down and actually think and reflect on the goodness

of God and his faithfulness. And something that's near and

dear to my heart is settle your doubts. Uncover and

settle your doubts. If you keep ignoring your doubts and

pretending they're not there, it's like you're lifting up the

carpet in the living room and just pushing them under there.

Eventually your carpet's going to be a giant hill in

the middle of your living room and you can't walk around.

Those doubts are cracks in the foundation you're standing on.

If you don't deal with them, you don't seal them.

You're always on uneasy ground. So don't pretend like they

ain't there, because they're normal and they are there. Grab

those bring them to your chest, and say we're gonna

deal with you, even if you don't have the answer

in that one moment. And I think this is one

of the biggest reasons God tells us to be with

each other in his word, because I'm gonna come up

with doubts and I'm like, Jordan, I'm having a doubt. Bro,

I don't get this. I don't understand why fill in

the blank, because we all have answers for that, and

me and Jordan together we're gonna say, I don't know the

answer either, let's learn. We'll just go yeah, And He's like,

suck it up, Greg, just kidding. No, he would be like,

let's find the answer. Then let's study what God says.

Let's look at his promises in scripture. Let's uncover the

any of the doubts that I have. Don't pretend they're

not there. They're normal, they're there. But we want our

foundation to be strong. So seal the cracks, clean out

underneath the rug, fight for and grow your faith in Jesus.

And the second big thing. I know that one went long,

but the second big thing I want us to do

for today is this to make sure God knows who

you are. I felt a little conflicted about writing this one.

I'm like, can you actually do that? And I think

you can because of what he says in the Bible.

He knows who his sheep are, so make sure you're

one of his sheep. Make sure you are one of

his sheep. His sheep, what do they do? Listen to

his voice, Listen to him, Listen when God speaks, Listen

to the voice of God. If you want to be

known by him, do what he said, Obey him, do

the will of the Father, and we can start with

what we already talked about. Look to the Son and believe.

Look to the Son and believe. You want to know

if you're one of his sheep, do that first step,

because those who are not a sheep will not listen

to his voice and will not obey. We start there,

and then we just keep obeying the rest of his

commands as one of his children, as one of his sheep.

That's just what we do. And even though we know

that it all depends on God's salvation is purely in

the hands of the Lord. Even though we know that,

we're going to act like it all depends on us.

Why because he told us to. He told us to

strive to enter through the narrow door. I'm gonna act

like it has something to do with me because I

want to obey him. Oby what the Lord said. So

only those who God knows enter his kingdom. So does

God know who you are. Listen to his voice, obey

his will, enter through the narrow door, and fight for

your faith till the end. Amen. Can you guys stand

on your feet please,